Polio – Paralytic and Non-Paralytic

What is Polio?

Polio is also known by other name which is commonly known as poliomyelitis, which comes from the Greek term for grey and marrow that refers to the spinal cord. Poliomyelitis, condensed, became polio. For a time, polio was known as infantile paralysis, although it did not affect only the young.

Polio is a contagious viral illness that in its most unadorned form causes paralysis, difficulty breathing and sometimes death. Today, despite a concerted global eradication operation, poliovirus continues to disturb children and adults.

Polio (poliomyelitis) is a highly infectious disease caused by a virus. It attacks the nervous system and can be a cause for irreversible paralysis in a matter of hours. Polio can strike at any age, but it mostly affects children under the age of five years old mostly comes under this virus.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guides taking safety measures to protect against polio if you’re traveling anywhere there’s a risk of polio.

If you are a previously vaccinated adult who is planning to travel to an area where polio is occurring, you should collect a booster dose of inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV). Immunity after a booster dose lasts a lifetime.

Polio, or poliomyelitis, is a crippling and possibly deadly infectious disease. It is caused by the poliovirus. The virus mostly spreads from person to person and can attack an infected person’s brain and spinal cord, causing paralysis (can’t move parts of the body).

Causes of Polio

The poliovirus resides only in humans and enters the environment in the feces of someone who’s already infected. Poliovirus spreads primarily through the fecal-oral route, especially in areas where cleanliness is insufficient.

Poliovirus can be transmitted through contaminated water and food or through direct contact with somebody already infected with the virus. Polio is so spreadable that anyone living with a recently infected person is likely to become sick, too. People carrying the poliovirus can spread the virus for weeks in their feces. In paralytic polio, the virus leaves the gastrointestinal tract, enters the bloodstream, and then attacks nerve cells. Less than one to two percent of people who contract polio become paralyzed. In mostly cases, the throat and chest might be paralyzed. Death might result if the patient does not get artificial breathing support.